S&P 500 momentum seen fading ahead of potential upcoming seasonal weakness - BTIG

Investing.com -- Recent momentum in the S&P 500 has been waning and is about to enter one of the weakest stretches of the year, according to analysts at BTIG.

On Friday, the benchmark index in New York shed 0.5% to finish the session at 5,005.57 points, as a hotter-than-anticipated producer price index reading for January further dented hopes for imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

But the S&P 500 still ended above 5,000 for the fourth time so far this year, boosted by soaring hype around the applications of artificial intelligence and a bevy of solid quarterly corporate earnings.

In a note on Sunday, the BTIG analysts said that this momentum has been fading with each subsequent rally, adding that the weakening is projected to continue into next month.

"[W]e think there is downside risk on the major indices into March," the BTIG analysts noted. "Many dismiss the seasonal patterns, but over the last year it has been uncanny. From the mid-March ’23 banking crisis low, to the July peak, to the late October low, and then here we are at a mid-Feb[ruary] peak."